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Supreme Court Signals Limits on Voting Rights Act’s Section 2 in Louisiana Map Case

Conservative questions at reargument suggest tighter rules on Section 2 could arrive in time to shape 2026 maps.

Voting rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Oct. 15, 2025, as the justices prepare to take up a major challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement.
FILE - Students and a member of the Zulu Tramps march to a campus polling place on Election Day at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Voting rights activists protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court as the court prepares to hear arguments in a case challenging Louisiana's congressional map, on October 15, 2025.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh arrive for the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Overview

  • In a rare move, the justices ordered reargument and broadened the case to test whether creating majority‑minority districts violates the 14th and 15th Amendments.
  • During questioning, the conservative majority pressed whether race‑based remedies need an endpoint and explored proposals that would raise plaintiffs’ burdens in Section 2 cases.
  • Justice Brett Kavanaugh emerged as a pivotal voice, while the court’s liberals defended Section 2 as a tool to remedy discriminatory map effects without requiring proof of intent.
  • The dispute centers on Louisiana’s 2024 Shreveport‑to‑Baton Rouge district used in the last election; the state switched sides to oppose the map, and the Trump administration urged tighter standards.
  • Analysts say weakening Section 2 could reduce minority‑opportunity districts and shift House seats toward Republicans, with estimates commonly ranging from about a dozen to roughly 19, and a ruling is expected by June 2026.